Last Saturday morning I was reading the news on my iPad when I first found out about the missing Malaysian jet. My heart sank. Then I braced myself as I let my eyes read on in the article to see the plane's destination -- Beijing. I recall letting out a groan. I hate it when tragedies strike the people of this nation, people that I live among and care about.
I often fly in and out of nearby Thailand, Malaysia's neighbor, and the flights I take travel a similar route to the path of the Malaysian jet.
Most of the flights out of Thailand that I am able to book are night flights like the Malaysian one. In the last year, the only daytime flights in and out of Thailand from China cost $1000 more than the night flights. So night flights it is.
I remember being in the Bangkok airport after midnight last November, and the airport had HUNDREDS of night flights to locations all over the world. The shops and restaurants at the airport were open 24-hours a day, and I think there were more people at that airport at night than I had ever seen during daylight hours. It was a madhouse. From this I ascertain that night flights from Southeast Asia to China are pretty normal and most travelers who value the health of their pocketbooks take them.
I can picture the well-dressed, well-mannered mid-to-upper class Chinese people boarding the flight in Malaysia last week, just like they do on the Thailand flights. They pushed their bags in the overhead bins and settled in for a 6-hour long nap, only to be interrupted by an occasional offer of drinks or snacks by the flight attendants, just like on my recent trip. Because I can picture this in my mind so vividly, the whole event has hit a little too close to home for me.
It seems so unfair that a crazy person or two have to take down so many innocents with them.
If anyone ever tells you that Chinese don't value human life like we do in America, trust me, that person has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
I often fly in and out of nearby Thailand, Malaysia's neighbor, and the flights I take travel a similar route to the path of the Malaysian jet.
Most of the flights out of Thailand that I am able to book are night flights like the Malaysian one. In the last year, the only daytime flights in and out of Thailand from China cost $1000 more than the night flights. So night flights it is.
I remember being in the Bangkok airport after midnight last November, and the airport had HUNDREDS of night flights to locations all over the world. The shops and restaurants at the airport were open 24-hours a day, and I think there were more people at that airport at night than I had ever seen during daylight hours. It was a madhouse. From this I ascertain that night flights from Southeast Asia to China are pretty normal and most travelers who value the health of their pocketbooks take them.
I can picture the well-dressed, well-mannered mid-to-upper class Chinese people boarding the flight in Malaysia last week, just like they do on the Thailand flights. They pushed their bags in the overhead bins and settled in for a 6-hour long nap, only to be interrupted by an occasional offer of drinks or snacks by the flight attendants, just like on my recent trip. Because I can picture this in my mind so vividly, the whole event has hit a little too close to home for me.
It seems so unfair that a crazy person or two have to take down so many innocents with them.
If anyone ever tells you that Chinese don't value human life like we do in America, trust me, that person has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
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